The goal of this application is to determine the post-transcriptional mechanisms of gene expression control of the MeCP2 gene. The principal investigator will delineate alternative polyadenylation of MeCP2, the process that determines the size of the 3' UTR in a tissue-and developmentally-specific fashion. She will also investigate the role that mRNA stability may play in MeCP2 expression regulation. These studies will be performed in vivo in a variety of cell lines with special attention to neural cells. The investigator will then turn to established in vitro systems using these cell lines in order to investigate mechanisms of regulation by alternative polyadenylation and differential RNA stability. These studies represent an under-explored area of research on MeCP2 gene expression that may have a critical influence in the tissue-specific effects observed in Rett syndrome. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]